Northumberland County Council | |
---|---|
Type | |
Type | |
History | |
Founded | 1 April 1889 [lower-alpha 1] |
Preceded by | District councils
|
Leadership | |
Civic Head | |
Chairman of the Council | Barry Flux, Conservative since 26 May 2021 |
Structure | |
Seats | 67 councillors |
Political groups |
|
Elections | |
First past the post | |
Last election | 6 May 2021 |
Next election | TBC |
Meeting place | |
County Hall, Morpeth, NE61 2EF | |
Website | |
northumberland.gov.uk |
Northumberland County Council is a unitary authority in North East England. The population of the non-metropolitan unitary authority at the 2011 census was 316,028. [3]
It was formed in 1889 as the council for the administrative county of Northumberland. The city of Newcastle upon Tyne was a county borough independent from the county council, although the county council still had its meeting place at the Moot Hall in the city, with its administrative offices in County Hall next door; the Castle Garth technically remaining under the control of the county council until 1981, when Morpeth became the new county town. Tynemouth subsequently also became a county borough in 1904, removing it from the administrative county.
The county was further reformed in 1974, becoming a non-metropolitan county and ceding further territory around the Newcastle conurbation to the new metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear. As part of the 2009 structural changes to local government in England it became a unitary authority with the same boundaries, which disregarded the referendum held in 2005 in which the population voted against the forming of a unitary authority. [4]
Its elections have been in May 2008, 2013, 2017 and 2021 at four-yearly intervals, the expected length of office of each councillor.
Throughout 2008, the people of Northumberland were consulted about the new name of the unitary authority. The choice was between having the name of the incumbent county council as the name for the new unitary authority – Northumberland County Council or whether a brand new name should be given – Northumberland Council. Online polls were held and the votes of staff within the former district councils were collated and overall, the name of the incumbent county council was preferred on a ratio of nearly 2:1. [5]
On 17 December 2008 it was decided that the new name would be Northumberland County Council. The chairman of the council stated that:
Having considered the findings of this consultation, it has been decided to call the new authority Northumberland County Council. It is important to reiterate that whilst the single unitary will adopt the name of an existing council, this is emphatically not a County Council takeover. As of 1 April 2009, all existing Northumberland councils will be abolished to make way for a brand new organisation, with new vision, values, and behaviours.
Legally, however, the council remains the same body as before, simply assuming the functions of the districts. [6]
In the 2017 election, the South Blyth ward was decided by drawing lots, a rarely-used method to resolve an electroral tie. [7] That outcome cost the Conservatives a majority outcome.
Northumberland appoints a civic head each year, and separately appoints a business chair to preside over council meetings. This differs from most councils where these two ceremonial roles are performed by the same person. The civic head for 2022–2023 is Trevor Cessford, whilst the business chair since 2021 has been Barry Flux, both Conservatives. Political leadership is provided by the leader of the council, being Glen Sanderson since 2020.
Offices(s) | Name | |
---|---|---|
Leader of the Council Leader of the Conservative Group | Glen Sanderson | |
Deputy Leader of the Council Portfolio holder for Corporate Services Deputy Leader of the Conservative Group | Richard Wearmouth | |
Portfolio holder for Children and Young People | Guy Renner-Thompson | |
Portfolio holder for Adults' Well-being | Wendy Pattison | |
Portfolio holder for Business | Wojciech Ploszaj | |
Portfolio holder for Community Services | Colin Horncastle | |
Portfolio holder for Healthy Lives | Jeff Watson | |
Portfolio holder for Local Services | John Riddle |
Offices(s) | Name | |
---|---|---|
Leader of the Official Opposition Leader of the Labour Group | Scott Dickinson | |
Deputy Leader of the Official Opposition Deputy Leader of the Labour Group | Elizabeth Simpson | |
Chairman of Northumberland Labour Group | Kath Nisbet |
Following the election of 2021, Northumberland County Council the Conservative Party gained majority control of the Council. Following a Liberal Democrat gain in a December 2021 by election, the Conservatives lost majority control. [8] [9] [10]
Affiliation | Members | |
Conservatives | 33 | |
Labour | 20 | |
Independents | 8 | |
Liberal Democrats | 4 | |
Greens | 2 | |
Total | 67 |
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